1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to solid fuels, and, more particularly, to fuel briquettes designed to reduce emissions, improve handling, and/or increase the heat value of carbon based solid fuels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Industrial fuels, especially coal and wood, are susceptible to degradation from exposure to natural elements. These fuels can lose significant heat value when their moisture content increases. Wood is especially susceptible to losing heat value because wood reabsorbs moisture from the surrounding environment very soon after it is dried. Retaining the heat value of such fuels becomes even more difficult during cold temperatures, as the fuels are susceptible to freezing. Further, the elements, such as wind, can adversely impact the storage of these industrial fuels. For example, wind can spread coal into the environment. Many conventional technologies for controlling heat value losses are not only expensive but also harmful to the environment, since the technologies themselves require additional energy to operate.
There have been many attempts to improve the utilization of plastics as a source of heat in our environment. Although plastics, as fuel, have great potential to act as a heat source, to date there has been limited success in using plastics as a heat source. Further, large industrial fuel plants cannot easily adapt to using plastics in high volume.
Despite being able to efficiently generate power for many additional years without major modifications and/or reconstruction, the tightening of air emission standards have rendered many small scale industrial plants, such as power generator stations, obsolete. The decline in these types of power generator stations can adversely impact the environment, as well as the economy in many localities. For example, small scale industrial plants are being replaced with larger power plants, thereby significantly increasing the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, which can contribute to global warming. Further, the large scale industrial power plants have to be built further away from urban centers because of their large sizes. This, in turn, can result in an increase in unemployment since the smaller power plants offer good employment opportunities in the more populated urban centers.
Unless small scale industrial power plants can be configured to utilize cleaner fuels, they risk becoming obsolete.
Thus, a solid fuel product solving the aforementioned problems is desired.